October 4, 2017
Volume 144, Issue 7 News Pages 1-3
Opinion Page 4
Delta Gamma service week
Shooting sparks dialogue
washburnreview.org
Features Pages 5-8 Big Brothers Big Sisters
Sports Pages 9-12 WU VB rallies against UCM
Washburn seeks to be fully ADA compliant Whitney Clum Washburn Review whitney.clum@washburn.edu
Following the 2010 amendments of laws that govern disability accessibility and action taken by WSGA last year to audit the university, students and faculty at Washburn are left wondering about the details of the transition into compliance with the law. The transition plan itself outlines what Washburn intends to do in the coming years to make the campus more user-friendly for everyone, but many feel that despite the planned coming modifications, there is still more to be done beyond what is required by law. The American Disability Act or ADA as it came to be known, is a relatively new act. Following the examples recently set by women and minorities, policy was pushed forward in the 1973 Rehabilitation Act to try to remove discriminatory policies in the workplace. However, since this only covered institutions that receive federal funding, the more powerful ADA was drawn up in the early 90’s to cover private institutions and workplaces. Title III is the section of the act that applies directly to Washburn University, listing out requirements that every public university is bound to. One of the biggest struggles, besides budget, surrounding the continuing
issue of bringing Washburn completely up to date are the grey areas such as Carnegie Hall. With its steep steps and aged architecture, wheelchair entrance to many of its classrooms is impossible. However, it is also protected as a historical building, meaning that no alterations can be done. “[Carnegie] is an old building. We try to move classes if there is no wheelchair access,” said Pam Foster, equal opportunities director at Washburn. “Most all of [the buildings], we upgrade them as we can.” To be compliant with the law, one must prove that there is a transition plan in place to help the students on campus, but as parts of campus such as the Henderson elevators break down, items on the plan can get shuffled around, causing those affected to wonder if troublesome areas will be fixed in the foreseeable future. To help shed light on the issue, WSGA passed two separate resolutions last year: first, make the campus more accessible for students and second, create an accessibility tour, which would essentially be an audit of Washburn done by the student government to investigate areas of Washburn deemed difficult. “With the audit last year, we had set that up through student government,” said the Speaker Pro Tempore
for Student Senate junior Traevor McPherson. “We had a resolution passed and I worked with a number of student government members, faculty members and students with an abbreviated list of ADA requirements. There was a number of issues that we hit. Everyone who went on that tour had an ‘aha’ moment when we were shocked to find out that it might be that way for someone on campus.” Jasper Shrake, senior music major, is one of the students that helped push the need for an audit, went into the specifics of the audit. “[WSGA] got a group together, they went around and looked for access to buildings, services and bathrooms, the football field, Garvey,” Shrake said. “Every bathroom in Henderson is ADA compliant. There are logistical issues that are ADA compliant but hard to use. Morgan is a mess. When only one entrance is usable, it is difficult because in inclement weather, it is hard to use... the biggest issue is parking and making sure there is an accessible route to making sure there is a route from the parking lot to an entrance. ADA only requires one entrance per parking lot.” The results of the audit were worked into Washburn’s transition plan, the document declaring what projects are possible in the projected budget for the
photo by Whitney Clum
Old and Gray: Students are passing in and out of the one of the campuses oldest buildings during passing period. The building is caught between laws that protect historical buildings and ADA laws.
next few years. “I think we’ve been proactive,” said Vice President of Administration Jim Martin. “We had a transition plan in place before they were calling it a transition plan. Last year, we did the library, Lincoln
Hall and Petro restrooms... It’s a dynamic process. We comply with the law. Some of the things from the audit are not scheduled yet, some are scheduled in 2017, 2018 [and] 2019.” ADA compliance on page 2
Campus entities commit to victim advocacy Jessica Knieff Washburn Review jessica.kneiff@washburn.edu
Washburn University Police Department received two reports of rape in Lincoln Hall during the month of September. Students received Awareness Notification Bulletins Sept. 10 and Sept 30. The notifications were similar in nature, both reports are under investigation and the suspect was known to the victim in both cases. The awareness notification bulletins are sent by WUPD to notify the campus of serious allegations of crimes that occur
on campus for the general knowledge of the campus community. These two bulletins stated that there was no indication of any ongoing threat to the campus community. Chris Enos, chief of police for WUPD, shared some insight about the campus climate surrounding sexual assault and active bystander intervention. According to Enos, Washburn University applied for and received a Department of Justice grant for sexual assault prevention and active bystander intervention training. Students all over campus have been
going through the training sessions and learning more about intervention, reporting and victim advocacy. “Hopefully because of the education we’re doing, people will report these things more,” Enos said. Enos described the steps the WUPD takes when faced with these situations. They have an obligation to make the campus aware through daily crime and fire logs posted online. However, the awareness notification bulletins allow them to be able to give extra details about any given situation. Enos said that the victim of the crime typically works
photo courtesy of WSGA
Unity: WSGA signs a collaborative statement Sept. 27. This came after the passage of a resolution stating WSGA’s support for victims of sexual assault.
with WUPD on the message that gets sent out in awareness notification bulletins. This allows students, staff and faculty to under-
stand more specific circumstances of the situation and whether there is an ongoing Victim advocacy on page 2
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